Strikes Continue Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq

U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria on Wednesday, conducting 27 strikes consisting of 33 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported yesterday.

Officials reported details of yesterday’s strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Near Abu Kamal, three strikes destroyed three ISIS oil storage tanks, three wellheads, an oil pump and a front-end loader.

Near Raqqa, 14 strikes engaged 10 ISIS tactical units and destroyed nine fighting positions, two vehicles, a supply cache, a vehicle-borne bomb, a mortar position, an ISIS unmanned aerial system site and a generator.

Near Shadaddi, four strikes destroyed two ISIS-held buildings, a staging area and a vehicle and damaged an ISIS headquarters.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted six strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets:

Near Huwayjah, a strike destroyed a vehicle-borne-bomb facility.

Near Qaim, a strike destroyed two ISIS-held buildings and a staging area.

Near Rawah, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle and a vehicle-borne-bomb facility.

Near Tal Afar, two strikes destroyed an ISIS headquarters, four tunnels, and two improvised explosive devices.

Aug. 1 Strikes

Additionally, 27 strikes consisting of 33 engagements were conducted in Syria and Iraq on Aug. 1 that closed within the last 24 hours.

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group’s ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect.

For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.